Progress Log: Week 20

Details

Mode

It’s a low rep/high weight kind of week. This week was there, but not.

Sunday

Sunday was Mother’s Day. I had originally planned to hit the gym early, but wound up taxiing a teenager who got his arrival time mixed up. By the time everything was figured out, it was too late to get a morning workout in.

Mother’s Day didn’t quite work out as we had originally planned. Brunch in Corvallis was rethought when the eldest child called in sick. We hoofed it around downtown Salem, trying to find a reasonable place, but every spot was jam packed. We ended up making reservations at Lively Station for 2:30, which was two hours ahead of us, so we had ice cream at Coldstone to beat the heat, then went out for a nice late lunch.

By the time all was said and done, we arrived home at 4:30 ish. I was drained from the heat and the day, in general, so…no Sunday workout.

While we had a good day, it’s a bummer when my Sunday workout gets jostled. This is typically a longer weight session, and I like to be able to fit in some cardio as well, which is tough to fit into a two-hour slot during the workweek.

Psychologically, this day also tends to set the tone for the rest of the week.

Monday

Work interrupted me with some surprise meetings that compromised my morning plans. By the afternoon, my office was broiling from the heat and I had some things that really had to be done.

I’m not a hot weather person, at all. If it’s 80 degrees outside, this is really pushing it for me.

I have an attic office with no central AC. The configuration of the AC unit I have up here was not cutting it. I was drained and irritable by 4:00 pm when I cut out from work.

No Monday workout. Which nudged the needle a little further down on my mood gauge.

Tuesday

Okay, back on track. Chest and Biceps. I was hoping to get some action in on the Smith machine, but had to switch over to my weight plate workout when I saw that someone was using the machine already. I didn’t have time to wait around.

I got a solid workout in. Since it’s a newer workout option, and I’m feeling my way through on the equipment, I had 8 new records, which is cool.

Wednesday

Legs and Shoulders for the day. The gym was packed and apparently this is leg day for most of North Salem. This is duly noted. I got all my shoulder work done and felt pretty good about it on the leverage machines, but I didn’t get any time on any of the heavy leg machines…they were full for my entire 1.5 hours at the gym.

So I did what I could with leg extensions and lying leg curls and cut out on the rest so I could get back to work in time for a meeting.

Thursday

Made it in for Back and Triceps day. My morning plans got shifted around due to a quarterly plenary that I had to attend for work. I didn’t make it into the gym until 3:30 pm.

Five minutes in to my workout I got an unexpected text from a colleague who wanted to know if I could meet with him that afternoon. I told him I was out until 5:00 pm (I work until 6:00 pm) but would be happy to meet with him the following morning, unless he wanted to meet at 5:00.

I was hoping my strategy would work. Most state workers are done at 5:00 pm. But not this guy. He was happy to meet at 5:00.

Which means this workout got cut short as well. I got all of my triceps work in and three of my six back exercises. I did get the back work in that’s most important to me: pull ups, high iso-lateral rows, and seated cable rows, but I hate cutting my workout shorts.

And two days in a row had me feeling a little bit defeated.

Friday

I made up for my lackluster week with a killer circuit training day.

My circuit has now been upped to 16 exercises for four sets. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to complete. By the time I’m done with it, I’m pretty exhausted.

I jumped on the stationary bike, however, and did 5 miles in 20 minutes.

I then ended up taking Jack for a walk at Waverly Park, in Albany, where some unexpected construction blocked the shady path I was hoping for and then the heat nearly killed him on our way back to the car. I had to rush him over to my Pops house and hose him down. It was a frustrating afternoon.

I’m really hoping for a better week next week.

Saturday

Got in an hour of yoga this morning before a trip to Corvallis with Alicia for a Pow Wow at OSU. The stretching was much needed.

I don’t feel quite as bad as I did earlier this week. At least I got five days of movement in.

Diet

This was just a mess this week. Ugh. I won’t go into details, other than to note that during times where we have a lot going on, the diet can take big hits. While it can often feel like things are out of my control, they’re really not. There are always options but I’m usually letting the situation entice me down the path of least resistance and straight into excuse making. “Oh hey! It’s the fourth special event this week! I should celebrate with the most calorically dense item on the menu! And dessert!”

Okay so this might be a little bit of hyperbole, but it’s only a little bit so. This needs to be nipped in the bud. I need to be in charge of what I consume and how much and I also need to have a game plan for when life steers us off course.